Chrysalis
by KitKatt0430
Summary: When Barry's struck by lightning through the skylight pull chain in his lab, Barry's life flips upside down. There's no coma to make this transition easy on him and no way to hide the scars left behind. Thankfully, Barry isn't in this thing alone.


Summary: When Barry's struck by lightning through the skylight pull chain in his lab, Barry's life flips upside down. There's no coma to make this transition easy on him and no way to hide the scars left behind. Thankfully, Barry isn't in this thing alone.

Notes: For ColdFlash week Prompt: Alternate First Meeting  
Belated response for my ColdFlash bingo card: B3 - Barry and Lisa as Neighbors

_**Chrysalis**_

The night the STAR Labs accelerator almost blew up the city, seeding the storm that night with dark energy, Barry had been in his lab at work with the crappy little television tuned in to the weather station while he listened absently and stared out his window at the massive STAR Labs building in the distance, idly wondering how much data had been collected so far. But then it started raining and there was the familiar plip plip plip plup of water leaking from the skylight.

The skylight was Barry's work nemesis. It was old and poorly maintained and leaked every. Damn. Storm.

So Barry wasn't watching the skyline when STAR Labs blew a wad of energy into the sky. He was situating a trashcan under the skylight and reaching for the metal chain to better try and yank the damn thing into a better seal. In fact, he was already mentally composing his next maintenance request that would probably wind up denied, or 'fixed, but not actually fixed', like always. The 'waterproof' rubber seal had long ago turned brittle and crumbled to nothing, the water it leaked was a potential hazard to the evidence and chemicals stored in the lab, and Barry'd already sprained a wrist once from slipping one winter morning when melted snow had leaked through over night to create a rather sizable puddle.

He didn't remember much else about that night, though. Because lightning struck the building. Struck the skylight instead of what should've been the much more attractive lightning rod on the other side of the roof. The electrical current traveled down the chain and put Barry – still tugging fruitlessly on the skylight chain to lessen the rate of the water leaking in – out for the count.

Barry had woken up in the hospital the next day with Iris asleep in the chair next to his bed, Joe just returning with a fresh cup of coffee, and bandages all over Barry's face, arms, and torso.

Lichtenberg figures scarred Barry's body now and he'd been taking time off work for recovery. His medical insurance had, thankfully, covered the worst of his bills – the ambulance ride, the hospital stay, his physical therapy to deal with some of the resulting nerve damage in his arms…

Thus Barry wasn't feeling particularly attractive or comfortable in his own skin when pretty Lisa Winters casually knocked on his door and presented Barry with fresh made cookies.

"Tollhouse, but only because I'm still unpacking and don't have time to make them from scratch," Lisa told him, as if he had any reason to expect her to make him cookies from scratch… or even at all.

"I think usually the house warming gifts go the other way around," Barry responded lamely, thinking of the card and flowers he'd gotten the day before, after realizing he had a new neighbor… but he'd been so put off by the stares at the grocery store that, instead of gifting them to her, he'd hidden in his bedroom and cried instead. He swallowed hard and then added, "speaking of which, I have something for you too."

He let her inside, putting the cookies on the kitchen counter and then grabbed the vase of flowers and the card, which he hadn't yet actually signed. Barry turned to hand them to Lisa only to find her writing her name and number in very neat print on the notepad he normally kept out for grocery lists.

"We're neighbors now, so we ought to be able to reach each other in an emergency, right?" Lisa asked with a flirty grin, looking Barry up and down.

He nodded, feeling distantly a little ill. Anxiety creeping up on him; it hadn't been this bad since he was a kid.

"I love the flowers, they're beautiful," Lisa added, accepting the vase. "Lilies are my favorite, they're so fragrant." She sniffed at the flowers and then beamed. "Would you add your name and number to the card? That way I can put your number in my phone when I get back to my apartment."

"Sure," he said, a touch numbly, and did as she asked.

"Mind if I ask what you do for a living, Barry?"

"I'm a CSI," he responded automatically. Then he added, "I just don't know for how much longer." The words just sort of slipped out and even he hadn't known until they had that he'd been considering quitting. Not that he had even the first clue where he'd apply for a job if he did quit.

All he'd ever wanted was to be a CSI. To help prevent the sort of injustice that led to his dad being wrongly imprisoned. But he didn't know how he was supposed to go back into work – into that lab – knowing that was where he'd been hurt.

"Oh, honey," Lisa patted his hand, "you look like you're gonna cry. I'm a good listener if you need someone to talk to about what's going on?"

She was the first person to just… touch him like it was no big deal since the lightning struck. Iris always hesitated, always had pity in her eyes. Joe looked guilty, as though he felt he should have protected Barry better. (And he should have; he'd laughed off Barry's concerns about that damn skylight like everyone else did and now look at him. Barry was never going to be the same again. Scars like these don't go away over time.) But Lisa didn't flinch at the sight when he opened the door. Didn't look him over with disgust. Didn't make him feel like a freak just for surviving something that left its mark on his skin.

Barry started crying. And Lisa just hugged him. Settled him down onto his own couch, brought over the plate of cookies, and then poured them each a glass of milk. She held his hand as the whole story came pouring out of him. The reports about the skylight, the lightning strike, his concerns about his job… even the details about his dad were just sort of dropped on her.

When he was done talking and his tears had dried up, he did feel oddly better despite also feeling a little embarrassed about unloading on his new neighbor like that.

But she just smiled, handed him another cookie, and told him about the ankle injury she'd suffered as a teen that ended her aspirations to be a professional figure skater just weeks before the Olympics qualifications that should've been the launching point for her career.

"It's not easy, moving on after something like that. But if this does end your career at the CCPD, its not the end of everything, Barry. I promise. It just feels like it for a while until the healing starts."

* * *

It's Lisa who points out to Barry that he's got a strong case for suing the city over work place hazards. He can't afford a lawyer, though, and he doesn't really know where to start looking for lawyers who'd be willing to take his case for cheap. Pro bono would be better, but he's realistic. Cheap is better in case he loses, and if they win then they can hopefully get the courts to make the city pay his legal fees too. Not that Barry's super clear on how that works.

He's not sure he can handle the stress of a court case either. Sitting in court with everyone staring at his face, pitying him for how he looks now. And it was the sort of case that he could easily see Buzzfeed hearing about and turning him into the bad guy, the idiot who sues the city over a leaky skylight. Like the woman who sued McDonalds over hot coffee. Never mind how badly burned she was or the fact that no restaurant should be serving coffee hot enough to cause third degree burns…

It was with great hesitancy that Barry ended up calling Oliver for his advice.

"Do you want me to come visit?" was the first thing Oliver asked when Barry was done explaining his situation. "Its not the same, I know, but I've got some pretty hard to live with scars myself. We can talk about it. Or not talk about it. Whatever you need right now, Barry."

That right there was the attitude that had made Barry willing to keep Oliver's secret identity as the Green Arrow a secret. He cared – genuinely cared – and was trying to be a better person.

"That would be nice, Oliver. But… I've heard about what's happening in Starling. I don't want you to feel obligated to visit, with how… busy things must be for you right now." Between the increasing demands of Oliver's day job and night-vigilantism, well… Barry didn't want to be yet another burden on Oliver's plate.

Oliver sighed quietly. "I'm going to find time for you, okay Barry? Might take me a few weeks and I might only be able to stay for a day, but I'm going to make the time for you."

Barry let out a shaky breath. "Thanks."

"I'm gonna text you the name and number of a friend of mine. Maybe wait a day to give her a call, though, so I can give her a heads up. I've known Laurel since we were kids and she's good people. She's a DA now, but she used to work for an organization that took cases like yours pro bono. She might be able to help you find a similar organization in Central City."

He felt lighter at the thought. "Thank you, Oliver. Really. That's… that's perfect."

A few minutes after they said their goodbyes, Barry's phone lit up with a text from Oliver with Laurel Lance's contact information.

* * *

Joe was not thrilled when he heard Barry was looking into suing the city. "Of course I'll support you, Barry," was said not in Joe's reassuring tone, but in his 'you're making a mistake but I love you anyway' tone that never failed to put Barry and Iris' hackles up because of how much it reeked of condescension.

Iris thought Barry was making the right choice. "With all those detailed reports you've filed about the skylight being a big safety violation, the city's going to have no choice but to settle out of court. Even with your insurance covering things, you're on unpaid medical leave and you deserve better compensation than you're getting."

It was great knowing at least Iris was on his side, though she still flinched at his scars sometimes. And she had started talking about Joe's new partner – Detective Pretty Boy, Eddie Thawne – with a familiar sound in her voice. The sound of an Iris West with a crush.

Like always, it stung. But oddly there was relief mixed in there too. And then the realization that it was finally happening, he was getting over his feelings for Iris.

He ended up mourning the end of an era – the crushing on Iris West era – drinking cheap wine with Lisa and eating white chocolate chip cookies ("from scratch, Barry, and don't they taste so much better?") while watching Angel: The Series on Netflix. (Lisa's running commentary on how the show couldn't make up its mind on what genre it was beyond 'supernatural with a main course of broody, pansexual Vampire hotness' was hilarious.)

* * *

"Jake said he's really confident the city attorneys are going to choose to settle out of court. So while I may have to go to a closed hearing with just lawyers and a judge, I probably won't have to worry about going in front of a full courtroom." Barry beamed at Lisa over a shared pint of ice cream.

She grinned back. "That's awesome, Barry."

"I've… I've also decided to start attending the group therapy sessions my physical therapist recommended. For people dealing with scars and trauma like… like I am." Barry fiddled with his spoon nervously. "I'm terrified at actually having to talk about what I went through to a group of strangers, though."

"I was a stranger when you told me," Lisa pointed out, gesturing with her spoon. "Not that I'm complaining. You're a good friend, Barry Allen, and don't you forget it."

"You brought cookies, that made you a baking angel," Barry muttered, looking away bashfully.

"Also you really needed to vent, but the cookies didn't hurt," Lisa agreed with a laugh.

"Oh, god, did I need to vent," Barry agreed. "You didn't look at me like my scars were the only thing that mattered… you looked at me like they didn't matter at all unless I wanted them to. So… thank you, Lisa. You're a pretty good friend yourself."

"So… there's something I should tell you," Lisa said quietly; now she was the one fidgeting with her spoon.

"What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to offer her a hand to hold if she wanted it.

Lisa snagged his hand. "I moved back to Central to give my brother a place to live when he gets out of jail. He… he's a good person, really. I know you're a science cop, but… I was hoping you'd be okay with this anyway."

"Tell me about your brother," Barry replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "If you love him so much, then there's got to be a lot more to him than whatever crime landed him in jail."

* * *

Leonard Snart is Lisa's brother.

She was born Lisa Snart, but changed her name as soon as she was legally able in order to distance herself from the abusive bastard who'd raised her and Len. A man named Lewis Snart, a dirty cop who used and abused everyone and everything in his life.

Lisa showed Barry the scar just below her collarbone. "Beer bottle," she said, tone brittle. "He was a drunk too, of course. Lenny tried to spare me the worst of Lewis' rage. His scars are worse than mine. Lenny only got into crime because Lewis forced him to be there. And then… I don't know what Lewis threatened to do to me, but… Len stopped fighting back. But when I was old enough to be emancipated, Len and I were gonna get an apartment together with his friend Mick and they were both gonna… gonna go straight. But Lewis showed up and..."

Barry returned the favor Lisa once showed him and held her as she cried, stroking her hair and making soothing sounds.

"Lenny did one last job," Lisa continued when she could manage it again. "And it went south. I think Len screwed it up on purpose. But he got caught and Lewis got shot. Died in the hospital in surgery."

"And now your brother's getting out of jail? On parole or has his sentence been served in full?"

"P-parole," Lisa sniffled, snagging Barry's kleenex box off the table and going through a number of tissues.

"It sounds like your brother cares a lot about you and wants to be a good person," Barry said, choosing his words carefully. "I trust people who are trying to be a good person a lot further than I do people who think they already are."

It must've been the right thing to say because Lisa smiled at him even as she dabbed away some more of the runny eyeliner away from her face.

* * *

Barry goes back to work and has a panic attack at the site of his lab.

Doesn't matter that its cleaned up, that the skylight has been replaced, that the rack of chemicals that apparently fell on him that night has been moved to a different part of the room and restocked…

He's never going to feel safe in there ever again.

So Barry goes to the Captain's office, offers his congratulations to the newly promoted David Singh, and requests a transfer to the offsite labs. Captain Singh is disappointed, but he gets it. Which is great because Joe doesn't.

While Singh gets Eddie to help him gather up Barry's things from the onsite lab so that Barry doesn't have to go in there again, Barry winds up in a yelling match with Joe in the bullpen where Joe questions every decision Barry's made since being struck by lightning, Barry points out that he's made every decision with his health in mind because he's got a chronic condition now and… and because he so angry, Barry misses the signs of an impending seizure until it's too late to leave the room.

It's all he can do to just lay down in the bullpen while his body shakes and time slows. It's almost like the sleep paralysis he had as a kid, but without the weird hallucinations brought on by his subconscious melding his dreams – or nightmares – with reality. It feels like it goes on for hours, everyone moving in slow motion around him, but eventually Barry snaps out of it. He can sit up again, listless and tired, yet somehow also starving. It feels like he's got a migraine hangover, but the feeling in the back of his head that signals an impending seizure is gone so at least there's that.

The Captain sends Barry home – has Eddie take him - and the look David Singh is giving Joe West tells Barry that Joe is in a shit-ton of trouble.

Barry dozes in Eddie's car on the way back to his apartment, not really asleep but not really wanting to talk either. But when they get to the visitor's section of the parking garage, Barry muttered ruefully, "so much for my first day back, huh?"

"Yeah, that kind of sucked," Eddie agreed dryly. "I really don't get why Joe is so upset over all of this anyway." He pulled into a parking spot near the elevators while Barry considered his answer slowly.

"Joe doesn't like change very much. And a lot of things have changed in a very short time. He…" Barry frowned thoughtfully, then asked, "has anyone told you about Ralph Dibny? Or, like, mentioned I'm kind of a hardass about how evidence is handled?"

"The latter, yes. But, no, I don't think anyone's said anything about anyone called Ralph Dibny," Eddie replied, turning off the car and undoing his seat belt so he could look at Barry more comfortably.

Barry undid his own seat belt. "Dibny was a Detective when I first started as a CSI. He had a case going nowhere, got frustrated. Faked the murder weapon because the evidence against his best suspect was inconclusive. When I was processing the evidence and realized what he'd done..." Barry swallowed hard. "I went to Joe. Because I wanted his support when I came forward with what I'd found. Joe told me not to rock the boat. Said Captain Jennings wouldn't like it. He wasn't necessarily wrong. Jennings didn't like it when I reported to him his favorite rising star detective faked evidence. Didn't like it so much that he put an official reprimand in my file and I had to go over his head to IA. In the end, it was Jennings who was left with an official reprimand, Dibny was fired for falsifying evidence, and I got a reputation for being a hardass about evidence handling.

"So when I decided to go forward on the lawsuit, I didn't consult Joe on it because I knew he'd say 'don't rock the boat' again." Eddie nodded slowly. He'd been there when Barry'd told Joe and Iris about the lawsuit, after all. "Jennings didn't just retire, Eddie. He was given the option of retiring gracefully or being dragged through a very painful security review and then fired for a great many reasons. You'll notice a number of other detectives and officers either retired or transferred too?"

"Are you saying they were dirty?"

"Some of them, yes. And some of them are going to be very pissed off at me for a lawsuit that put our precinct under so much scrutiny that they felt unsafe staying here. That I got our Captain fired and replaced with someone who actually gives a shit about proper procedure and who will crack down on anyone taking bribes and if anyone falsifies evidence? Captain David Singh will make how I handled things with Ralph Dibny look downright polite. But all Joe sees is that I may have put myself in danger, not that I helped clear out someone actively harming our department or that..." Barry huffed softly, "I really do need the money when the city's settlement comes through.

"Anyway, after all of that and now I'm transferring to work offsite. He's not thinking about how the offsite location is actually closer to my apartment or that of course I would have PTSD about the lab where I got struck by lightning and suffered major nerve damage in my arms as a result. He's thinking that I won't be nearby during the day for him to watch and protect."

"And it's probably other cops you'd be in danger from too," Eddie admitted, rubbing his temples. Eddie was still so new to the station that this was probably the first time anyone had said anything to him about the station politics. Couldn't be easy to take in.

"He also forgets sometimes that Iris and I aren't kids any more and he doesn't get to make our decisions for us." Barry sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. The hungover feeling was starting to pass into a regular headache. "Don't tell Joe, but I was helping IA build a case against Captain Jennings before the lightning strike anyway. It's almost embarrassing that he ended up being fired over the skylight."

Eddie snickered. "Yeah, definitely not telling Joe any of that. He's pissed off at me enough as it is for dating Iris." He hesitated a moment, then asked, "you're okay, with that right? I mean… I sort of got the impression that you..."

"Iris is easy to love," Barry admitted quietly. "But I've tried to tell her how I feel several times over the years and either she's unusually oblivious about this one thing or all the misunderstandings were very deliberate attempts by her not to hurt my feelings. Either way, it's pretty clear she doesn't feel the same way about me. And I'm finally getting over her, so that helps. You know what else helps?" Barry smiled when Eddie shook his head, expression startled. "She's really, really happy with you."

"Thanks," Eddie muttered, ducking his head and looking oddly relieved.

"You're a good friend, Eddie. I'm not saying it isn't awkward sometimes, 'cause it is. But it's getting easier and it really is nice to see you both happy together." Barry popped open the car door and then grimaced at the thought of having to stay upright in the elevators on his own. "Ugh… mind walking me to my apartment? I'll be fine once I can faceplant on a comfy surface a nap for an hour, but..."

"Not a problem," Eddie hurried out of the car and around to the other side, offering Barry an arm to hold on to.

Feeling exhausted – which was probably why he'd been so unusually chatty and honest about Joe, work, and Iris – Barry latched on and let Eddie lead him first to the elevators, then to his apartment door.

"Everything okay, Bar?"

Barry looked over at Lisa, who was standing in her doorway. A rather handsome looking man, whom Barry'd never seen before, was peering over her shoulder at both him and Eddie suspiciously. It took Barry's brain a few moments to connect the handsome man with Lisa's brother. He'd been released from prison just two days earlier and Barry hadn't had the chance to check in with her on how things were going with him yet.

He nodded at her sleepily. "I had a seizure while arguing with Joe and that was after seeing my old lab triggered a flashback to the accident. So it was a great first day back all around," Barry told her dryly. "Captain Singh sent me home and I'm going to be transferring to the off site lab."

"Ugh, that sucks. Want me come by in an hour? I'm baking cookies," Lisa offered.

"Yes, please, that'd be wonderful," Barry grinned and his gaze flicked to her brother again.

"Lise?" the man said, voice uncertain.

"Oh, right, sorry. Where are my manners? Lenny, this is my neighbor, Barry Allen and his coworker, but also the guy dating his foster sister, Eddie Thawne." Lisa gestured to each of them in turn. "Barry, Eddie, this is my brother. Leonard Snart."

"It's nice to meet you," Barry told him sincerely, giving a little wave and handing Eddie his keys while the detective absently echoed the sentiment, more focused on getting the door open now than polite niceties.

"Likewise," Len responded dryly.

The door opened and Eddie ushered Barry inside, though not before Barry said goodbye and Lisa reiterated her promise to check in on him in an hour.

"Do you need me to leave the door unlocked for her?" Eddie asked, once they were inside.

"Nah, she's got a spare key." Barry dropped onto the couch and kicked off his shoes. "I'm going no further. This is where I nap."

Eddie snorted in amusement. "Need me to grab a blanket for you?"

"Should be a weighted blanket in the built-in under the tv. Pretty sure I put it back there anyway. Helps me feel more settled after having a seizure," Barry told him, slumping down on couch. "If you flip the bottom lock on the door when you go, you should still be able to pull the door shut behind you. Not worried about having the deadbolt set right now."

"Found it," Eddie chirped, pulling a heavy, soft-covered blanket from the cabinet below the television. "So… mind me asking about Lisa? You two have seemed pretty close lately..." he offered the blanket to Barry, who sort of half-heartedly flung it over himself.

His legs were starting to feel a little twitchy, like he was wired and need to move even though he was really tired and needed to sleep. The weight covering his legs calmed the sensation, though, and he slumped back with his head against the arm rest. "We're friends. That's all either of us are interested in. I've already dissuaded Iris against playing match-maker there; please don't start that up again?"

"I won't. Just curious is all," Eddie assured him. "Want me to grab you a pillow?"

"Yes." Barry immediately buried his face in the pillow Eddie brought from his bedroom. "Thanks, Eddie. I'm gonna sleep now, mmkay?" If Eddie replied before leaving, Barry had no idea. He was already asleep.

* * *

Barry woke to the smell of cookies. He turned on his side and carefully pushed off the weighted blanket before sitting up and rubbing his hands over his eyes (and then through his hair, furthering the rather wrecked appearance he was sure he had going at this point).

"Thanks, Lisa," he said, turning to peer at the kitchen. Lisa was setting down a plate of cookies on the counter. Her brother stood beside her with a carton of milk, pouring three glasses.

"I hope you don't mind I brought Lenny along." Lisa pointed at the stools he had by the counter. "Over here, lets make sure you've got your coordination back."

Barry grumbled, but he got up and shambled over anyway. "I'm fine. Better once I've had a cookie or three," he joked teasingly. "And I don't mind. I meant what I said earlier – Leonard? Or do you prefer Len?"

"Len."

"I'm glad to meet you." Barry smiled and, to his pleasure, Len smiled back. "I don't know how much Lisa's told you about me, but I'm a CSI for the CCPD. Eddie's a detective, but he's not likely to give you shit about having been in Iron Heights," Barry pretended not to notice the way Len had completely frozen up. "I do have a question for you, though. My father – Henry Allen – is at the same Iron Heights facility you were at. He says no one hassles him for having a CSI for a son, but I worry all the same. Do you know if he's really doing okay?"

"Doc Allen?" Len looked incredulous now. "You're Doc Allen's son?"

Barry just nodded and waited expectantly as he munched on a cookie.

"He's doing just fine. Plays a mean game of poker, actually. I… heard his son visits a lot, but nothing about you being a CSI." Len was frowning at that.

Barry, however, was relieved. "That's good to hear. He always says things are fine for him in there, but he said that when I was sixteen and he had a black eye and split lip, so… I worry. Thanks."

Len nodded, quietly lost in thought, so Barry chatted with Lisa about how her work was going - she ran a small team of security professionals that were hired for testing the security set ups of banks, the local labs, and other businesses - though Barry had been barred from making Robert Redford jokes (and Sneakers jokes in particular) after he'd found out what she did for a living.

"You really don't mind that she breaks into buildings for a living? I thought all cops looked down on that sort of thing," Len finally asked. Not sneering, not really, but...

Joe hadn't been happy when he'd done a background check on Lisa and learned about her job. (Barry had been livid that Joe did that and Joe still hadn't properly apologized for it, didn't seem to understand that it was an abuse of power to snoop on Barry's neighbor - Barry's friend - like that.) So Barry could understand where Len's caution came from. It still stung, but Barry got it.

"It's good security practice is what it is," Barry replied. "Like pen-testing a computer network. Because Lisa, and people like her, find security holes in the real world, there are fewer actual break ins because those holes get closed. Which means less work spent processing crime scenes for people like me."

Barry seemed to pass a test there because Len relaxed, picked up another cookie, and let Lisa talk him into sharing a story from Iron Heights about playing poker with Henry Allen. Who, for being someone that quietly wore his heart on his sleeve, turned out to be quite the card shark.

"It's an inherited trait. Trust me. Never play poker for Oreos against Barry, you'll lose," Lisa sighed, mock regretful.

"Considering I turned those oreos into a milkshake and then shared it with you, I don't know why you're complaining," Barry retorted with a grin.

* * *

Barry sat down on the bench outside of work and grimaced at the idea of taking the bus home. His arms ached. They'd ached from the moment he'd woken up and no amount of aspirin did him any good. He'd been clumsy in his lab all day, nearly dropping half the things he'd picked up, and he'd even tried taking a warm shower in the locker room during his lunch break - thus shortening the time he had for his actual lunch - in hopes that the hot water on his arms might help.

It didn't help and Barry had to scarf down his lunch while he was toweling his hair dry.

He pulled out his phone and contemplated calling someone to come pick him up. Iris didn't have a car, but Eddie did. And Eddie had been refreshingly not weird at all after Barry'd admitted to having a long-standing crush on Iris. But Eddie would still have another hour at work right now, so calling Eddie would mean a.) waiting over an hour for a pick up and b.) interacting with Joe. And things with Joe were not good for Barry right now. Lisa had a car, but she was currently checking out her latest client's security measures in person and also wouldn't be available for at least an hour. He could ask one of his coworkers for a ride, but a number of them didn't like him because of his lawsuit over the skylight and he still wasn't a hundred percent sure he knew which ones were okay with him and which ones weren't. Which was infuriating, but what good did it do Barry to get upset at them for it?

He could call an uber, but Barry couldn't really justify the expense when he had a bus pass.

And that was when it occurred to Barry he had another option.

Much as Lisa wanted Len working for her security firm, that wasn't an option while Len was still on parole. The terms of his parole were strict on that - Lisa couldn't even bring certain parts of her work home anymore, which had to be frustrating for her since Barry knew she liked to continue planning her legal 'heists' in the evening in comfy non-work clothes. (Barry'd never say a word if she did bring certain things home with her anyway, but he appreciated that she wasn't putting him in the position of lying to Len's parole officer even if it wasn't for his sake that she was doing it.) So for now, Len was working two part time jobs. One was front counter at a bakery, which was an evening job and netted Len free pastries that would've otherwise been binned. The other - the one he worked on Tuesdays, which was today - was at a bookstore where he shelved books and worked the registers as needed.

Tuesday's Len had the early shift at work which meant he'd already be done for the day.

Biting his lip nervously, Barry's finger hovered over Len's name in his contact list for a long moment. He honestly couldn't tell if Len liked him or just tolerated him for Lisa's sake. But he didn't seem to dislike Barry and... the worst he could say was no. And then Barry'd have to take the bus anyway.

He tapped the phone screen and then brought the cell phone up to his ear. It rang a few times and, just as Barry was certain it'd go to voice mail and he'd need to start walking down the street to the bus stop, Len answered the phone.

"Hey Len," Barry responded, "I'm sorry to bother you about this, but would you be able to swing by and pick me up from work?"

"Yeah, sure," Len responded in a slow drawl. "Are you alright? You sound... off."

"Bad day," Barry admitted, and then told him about his arms hurting all day. "It's a side affect of the nerve damage from being struck by lightning," Barry elaborated.

"And after being in pain all day, no energy for the bus?" Snart asked, the tone matter of fact and not judging.

"Pretty much. Especially when there's always someone staring at my scars."

Len made a sympathetic noise. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes," he said and then politely ended the call.

Barry let out a relieved sigh as he watched the bus pull up to the stop. Fifteen minutes of sitting on the bench wasn't bad at all.

It was more like twelve minutes, though, when Len pulled up in the parking lot and Barry got into his car.

"Thanks," Barry said, offering Len a smile as he buckled in.

"You're welcome. Have you had dinner yet?"

Barry shook his head negatively and gave Len a questioning look.

"I was planning on dropping by Master Wok on the way home, pick something up to go for me and Lise. Sound like something you'd want for dinner too?"

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

It sort of turned into a Tuesday habit after that. Len would pick Barry up after work and they'd get food together. Sometimes to go and they'd meet Lisa at the apartment. Sometimes Lisa would meet them at the restaurant. Sometimes, though, it'd be just the two of them eating together. And it was...

Len had a good sense of humor and a penchant for punning that would set Barry off with puns of his own. (They had pun competitions and Lisa would lament ever introducing them when it happened around her.) He had a nice smile and a low, rumbling laugh and a drawl to his voice that sent shivers racing up and down Barry's spine.

In other words, Barry was developing a bit of a (massive) crush on Len. Which he was fairly certain was not reciprocated. A familiar, if lamentable, state of affairs.

At least the lawsuit had finally settled. And Barry's arms were hurting less often. And the seizures were getting fewer and farther in between.

And then, out of nowhere, Barry gets a call from Harrison Wells. The Harrison Wells.

* * *

Barry walked into STAR Labs and a rather empty foyer. There wasn't a soul in sight, so he went over to the front desk and... sure enough there was a phone there with a sign directing visitors to call the line to the cortex to be buzzed inside.

Doing as the sign directed and sticking the phone on speaker mode, he waited for someone to pick up the line.

"STAR Labs, this is Cisco Ramon speaking," greeted a bubbly voice that made Barry grin just at the man's tone alone.

"Uh, hi, this is Barry Allen. I'm supposed to be meeting with Dr. Wells..."

"Oh, yeah, he's on his way up to meet you already. Should be there with Cait-er Dr. Snow any minute."

"Thanks," Barry replied, relieved.

"No problem."

They ended the call - a bit awkwardly, admittedly - and a few moments later, a brunette woman, presumably Dr. Snow, was opening the doorway to rest of the building and holding it open for Dr. Wells.

"We really need to get that door fixed," she was saying. "When is the repairman going to be stopping by again?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, Caitlin, and it's really not that big a deal."

"Cisco could fix it if you'd just let him," she grumbled.

"Cisco has more important things to do than fix the automatic door mechanism."

It was one thing to know, from the newspapers, that Wells had been paralyzed from the waist down after the accident. It was another thing entirely to see him rolling into view on a top of the line wheelchair.

They'd all lost something that night, it seemed.

Striding forward, Barry offered doctors Wells and Snow a smile and introduced himself, then offered them each a handshake in turn. "It's really an honor to meet you," Barry said sincerely to Wells.

"Not many would say that after I nearly blew up the city," Wells replied self-deprecatingly.

"Well I mean it," Barry insisted firmly.

Looking away, Wells heaved a sigh. "You may change your mind after you hear what I have to say. The night of the accelerator accident, for forty-five minutes we achieved success. The accelerator was working and the data we collected on exotic particles and dark matter was... it's unfortunately that we'll unlikely never be able to do anything with that information." Wells shook his head and looked back at Barry. "We miscalculated on our safety measures, however, and our containment field was leaking energy. We didn't realize until the champagne started floating out of its bottle. By then it was too late to safely shut down the accelerator. While we were fortunate not to trigger an explosion that would've taken out half the city, we did end up flooding the city in dark energy. The storm itself was seeded with it. The storm that... well, the storm that then went on to strike you with lightning."

Barry swallowed hard at the implication there. "You think, what, the dark energy caused the lightning to hit the skylight instead of the lightning rod that evening?"

"It was unusual behavior; any lightning in the storm near the CCPD should've been drawn to the lightning rod, but... there's really no way to know for certain. Unless you start exhibiting signs of being affected by the dark energy, that is. There have been a handful of others affected so far and in light of that I've been trying to track down other potential... meta humans, for lack of a better term."

"What do you mean by 'meta human'?" Barry asked, looking between the two scientists.

"The effects differ between each person, but basically a meta human is someone who has been augmented by the dark matter in some way," Dr. Snow said, taking over the explanation. "We can't give names or identifying details due to doctor-patient confidentiality, but in the last several months we've encountered people with the ability to manipulate electricity, teleport... it's been like living in a bad science fiction novel come to life, to be honest. We'd hoped Hartley could be here today, but he wasn't well enough to come into work. But he gave me permission to give you his contact information and tell you about his... ability as a meta human. Dr. Hartley Rathaway began exhibiting signs of being affected by the accelerator shortly after we became aware of the energy leakage. His hearing was adversely affected, enhanced to the point where he's often in pain from be able to hear too much."

Barry felt oddly faint. Coming from a friend, Barry would've thought this was a prank. But these two were strangers with no reason to reach out to him like this and then lie about their reasons. "I haven't had any unusual symptoms from the lightning strike," Barry finally said. "But I take it that's no guarantee that could change in the future?"

Dr. Wells nodded. "While some of the metas we've encountered developed their powers that night, like Hartley did, others have developed their abilities after experiencing subsequent physical or emotional trauma. We're developing a method of determining what makes a person more, or less, likely to be affected by the dark matter and while we think there's a genetic component... our current sample size for testing is rather small. I was hoping that you might be willing to donate some blood for our analysis. Our tests may wind up being inconclusive, but if we're on the right track then if you are a meta human then we may be able to give you forewarning before your abilities manifest."

"That's..." Barry grimaced a little as his legs twitched a little. "I think I need to sit down," he muttered, feeling faint. And what was he smelling... oh. Oh, shit. "Actually, I need to lay down," Barry looked around for somewhere nicer than the floor, but he was pretty sure he didn't have enough time. "I'm pretty much on the verge of having a seizure."

Dr. Snow snapped into movement, coming to his side. "If you want to, we can get you to one of the break rooms on this floor. There are some pillows we can set up for you there to make it comfortable and safe for you."

Barry nodded listlessly, hoping the room wasn't too far. It'd been a while since he'd last had one of these and it was coming on strong and fast. He nearly tripped over his twitchy legs while Dr. Snow put an arm around him to help steady him. They got to the break room in time and, as promised, there were pillows. The couch was too narrow to feel safe laying on, but Snow - Caitlin, she insisted - pulled off enough pillows for him to settle on before the world slowed and Barry felt like his whole body was twitching and vibrating and...

And there was a moment where Barry almost felt like he wasn't seizing, he was vibrating. Like he could get up and run and never stop...

But then the moment, and the seizure, came to an end and Barry was left breathless and exhausted and starving. And uncomfortably aware of Dr. Wells' unnerving stare from the hallway.

* * *

"So what're you going to do? You're not gonna give that vampire your blood are you?" Lisa was pacing her apartment while Barry leaned against Len on the couch.

"I don't know yet," Barry repeated for the umpteenth time. He yawned and closed his eyes, snuggling closer against Len's shoulder since the older man wasn't complaining yet.

Tentatively, an arm wrapped around Barry's shoulders and he smiled. "It all sounds rather unlikely. Meta humans," Len's voice rumbled pleasantly in Barry's ears. "Sounds like something out of a comic book. Actually, I think that is out of a comic book. Don't they use that term in the Marvel comics?"

"You're a closet nerd, aren't you?" Barry teased, peering up at Len and feeling his stomach swoop a little at the smile Len was giving him.

"Not that closeted," Lisa muttered.

* * *

Barry's range of motion in his arms was improving. Which shouldn't have been possible.

He didn't really realize at first, what with being wrapped up in this flirty thing developing between him and Len and busy with work and considering Dr. Wells request... but he's at physical therapy one afternoon and his therapist comments on it.

And Barry just... doesn't know who to talk to because... he's afraid he's getting his hopes up. That he's deluding himself into thinking this is anything other than a happy accident. But he's been having so many good days lately and so little pain in his arms that...

Barry contacts Hartley Rathaway. The two meet for lunch and Hartley goes into the sort of detail that Snow and Wells didn't (as much because Barry's seizure cut things short as it was because they had to worry about patient confidentiality). And, tentatively, Barry tells him that he's close to getting the full range of motion back in his arms. Which shouldn't be possible with the damage his arms took from the lightning strike.

"I was really lucky the lightning didn't kill me. As it was, my heart stopped a few times that night and the doctors nearly put me in a medically induced coma." Barry fiddled with his napkin, his sandwich and chips long gone. "I don't know what to think. Could be that the damage wasn't as bad as initially thought and this is just one of those medical miracle stories google sticks on your news feed."

"Or it could be a sign you're a meta with regenerative abilities," Hartley filled in, looking fascinated but not... pushy. "It's up to you. Come to STAR Labs, get checked out... we do have the most experience with metas right now. But you could go to Mercury - don't tell the others I brought that up, there's a rivalry there and Cisco gets twitchy about it. But Dr. Tina McGee is a good person, fierce business woman but she'd never exploit someone. You could go to your normal physician, but they're going to think you're crazy or grasping at straws or whatever. My hearing certainly got the brush off as 'auditory hallucinations and tinnitus'." Hartley rolled his eyes. "But... you're a scientist so, ultimately, I don't think you're going to leave this mystery uninvestigated."

* * *

"I'm going to give my blood to the vampire," Barry told Lisa when he got home that evening, the same day he'd talked to Dr. Rathaway.

"Why?"

"Because... I think my nerve damage is healing. And that's... not really supposed to be possible."

Lisa sighed. "Do you need a ride there?"

"There and back again," Barry agreed. Lisa swatted him for The Hobbit reference.

* * *

"And you could bring Lisa," Iris adds, clearly fishing.

"That'd be fun, but if you're not so subtly hinting I should bring a date then I'd want to ask Len instead," Barry responded, giving her an arch look. "Stop trying to set me up with Lisa, Iris."

"Len... Lisa's brother?" Iris squeaked.

"The ex-con," Eddie further clarified, looking amused. "Oh, wow, if you start dating him and Joe finds out..."

"Joe will suddenly adore you," Barry drawled in amusement. "I know, I know. I'm just asking for disaster, but... Len's hot. And a massive Star Wars fan. And he puns all the time..."

"This is what Barry Allen looks like when he's just shy of swooning," Iris whispered conspiratorially to Eddie. Barry threw his napkin at her face.

"See if I tell you any big news about my life ever again," Barry grumbled, pouting.

"Like you could hide something that important from me," Iris declared haughtily.

Eddie and Barry shared a look and both wisely decided not to comment on Barry's mostly gone crush on her. The one he'd had since before his mother died. The one Iris never noticed even though she'd been the one he'd been pining for. Instead they cheerfully taunted Iris with knowing something she didn't and then Barry had fun telling her all about his visit to STAR Labs. Where he left out pretty much all the pertinent details and may have sort of made it sound like Wells was trying to recruit Barry as one of several promising young scientists to help rebuild STAR Labs reputation.

He wasn't quite ready to explain what a meta human was just yet.

* * *

Barry wakes up and its dead silent. The hum of the pipes is missing, the chirping of the cicadas, that annoying bird that liked to scream outside his window at midnight...

He doesn't realize that the quiet is what's wrong at first. Barry just assumes he had an unsettling dream. But he goes into the kitchen and turns on the tap to pour himself a glass of water and... the water from the faucet comes out in slow motion.

That's when Barry realizes he knows this feeling. It's the one he's almost-not-quite felt in his seizures the last few times they happened. The feeling where he could run and run and never tire.

The feeling slips through his fingers and the world's sounds crash back in on him. And as Barry munches on a midnight snack, he wonders what's happening to him. But he's got that full work up at STAR Labs scheduled in the morning. So perhaps he's about to find out.


End file.
